We used a long thing that was recommended, and I found it whole in our dog's poop.

I recommend that you brush their teeth. My husband does it, and not often enough. You put a little brush on your finger with "toothpaste" that tastes like chicken, and brush away. They get used to it, and are not chewing something that could hurt them.

It is not a good idea to ignore their teeth because those infections could hurt them. Someone else can be more specific, but they need good dental care.

We have gone the cleaning route, and it is around $100.

Sammy

Everyone has their own ideas of what is safe, so you'll get varied opinions here and will make your own decisions based on your research.

I consider rawhide dangerous and will not give it to my dogs. Your dogs are small right? So yes the Greenies can be dangerous for them, but probably not more than the rawhide. I'd say brush their teeth or give them a raw meaty bone once a week. Chicken back, or turkey necks or beef necks will do a good job keeping tarter away.

Two of my dogs are on raw diets, so their teeth are gorgeous. My older dog is on EVO, so I do brush his teeth and also wipe his mouth out with Novaldent (Chlorhexidine) once a day as well.

Greenies have been reformulated since they had problems. Not real familiar with the new version tho. Compressed rawhides are good and generally safer than regular ones. Alpo Cheweez are similar to the CET chews that your vet probably has. They worked great for my Dobe. She had beautiful teeth and never had to have them cleaned.

Lisa

We have always had our past doggies teeth cleaned once a year if necessary. Our Brittany had such a soft mouth, she would never chew on anything, wouldn't pull on a toy or bite down on anything hard so it was nearly a yearly visit for her.

Our vet said the rawhide was okay as long as it is monitored and made in the USA. I am just afraid I won;t get the back of their teeth by brushing. They aren't too agreeable to fooling around with their mouths.

Thanks for the suggestions, anyone else like to share?

Here in the Northeast, you can expect to pay a minimum of $250 for a dental cleaning, therefore I have learned how to brush my pet's teeth for obvious reasons! I've been using the C.E.T products sold by my vet. The toothpaste is chicken flavored (at least that's how it's labeled, I haven't actually tasted it myself) so the dog finds it qute palatable, and in between brushings I give him the enzymatic chews. The tarter has been disappearing so I'm pretty happy with the products.

Just like people some dogs and cats are more inclined to get tarter than others. Diet changes and toys can help, but if the pup is tarter-inclined brushing is going to be the best option to keep his teeth healthy.

You may get lucky and they like the toothpaste. =) We were pleasantly surprised how much our pup likes the chicken flavored one. It's now part of our monthly grooming ritual and we save that 'treat' for last. ;)

I give Riley a raw bone every day. He's allowed to chew on it for 15 minutes then I put it back in the refrig. A bone lasts about a week. I've done this with all my dogs and they've never needed their teeth cleaned. It's my cats I have a problem with.

We use a product called Plaque Off. I was skeptical at first, but now I am totally a supporter of it. It's made of some enzyme that breaks up something in their mouth so that the plaque doesn't stick to their teeth. We get our dog's teeth cleaned once a year, and this make a HUGE difference. It almost makes me think we don't need to do it. You add a teeny amout of it to their food once a day and they don't mind. My dog is super picky about food and he doesn't even mind. They even make a human pill form. Just an idea...